What Is Arthritis?
"Arthritis" (which literally means joint inflammation) is not a single disease or simply a word healthcare providers use when they talk about painful, stiff joints. It is actually a term used to describe more than 100 kinds of diseases that affect the joints.
The condition can attack joints in almost any part of the body. Some forms of arthritis cause changes you can see and feel -- such as swelling, warmth, and redness in your joints. With some types, the pain and swelling last only a short time, but can be quite bad. Other types cause less troublesome symptoms, but still slowly damage your joints. Most
types of arthritis are chronic, which means they can go on for a long time.
Despite a lot of research, scientists still know very little about the different types of arthritis. In fact, scientists have been able to figure out the specific causes of only a few types. For some types, scientists know risk factors that may make a person more likely to develop the disease -- but not the actual cause or causes of it.
With so many different types of arthritis, healthcare providers often find it easier to separate them into categories.
Common categories include:
- Noninflammatory
- Inflammatory
- Infectious
- Hemorrhagic.
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